Your Grant Proposal is Boring. What Can You Do About It?

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After nearly 20 years of writing, editing, reviewing, and evaluating grant proposals, I’ve seen my share – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Some grant proposals leap off the page, painting a vivid picture of the problem at hand and the proposed solution, while also providing an elegant, accurate (and not overwhelming) description of how, when, and why the solution will be carried out.

Some grant proposals get the job done, but don’t do much more than that. They answer the who, what, where, when, and why, but they never draw the reader in. They are the workhorses of the grant writing world: efficient, but forgettable.

Some grant proposals are real clunkers. There’s just no better way to say it. Not only do they not give the required information, explain the problem or the solution, or draw you in, but they are just... limp.

If you don’t activate the reader’s interest with your grant proposal, someone else will. Most individuals who are reviewing grant proposals and deciding what to fund, or deciding what to pass along to their boards or grant review committees, are reviewing myriad grant proposals. You must be memorable in order to not be forgotten.

In the preceding paragraph, I’ve broken one of my own rules about how to write a better, more effective, more engaging proposal. Read on:

1.            Tell a Story About One Person, One Program, One River, One Bird...

Storytelling is having a moment. Most grant writing books, blogs, and articles advise telling a story in your proposals, in order to help the reader envision your program. Research has shown that people remember stories more than statistics. Fundraising letters and appeals that tell the story of one person are more effective in raising funds than letters that assault the reader with a barrage of statistics, even when those statistics are compelling. Storytelling humanizes a proposal.

To make your proposal more interesting, creative, and lively, tell the story of ONE. One child who will be fed by your soup kitchen. One immigrant whose job training helped her transform her family’s life. One block in one neighborhood. One bird species. One river in a watershed. Drill down; get small in order to have the big impact.

2.            Throw Away Your Thesaurus.

Enough with the S.A.T. words, OK? Please stop saying “myriad,” as I did, above (and while you’re at it, if you MUST use that word, please learn how to use it properly). Proposal writing is like poetry; every word counts. But big words are not necessarily good words. In fact, throwing a big word into a sentence in order to sound smart can be like a tranquilizer dart to the head. Isn’t the preceding sentence more interesting than: “Use of advanced vocabulary to create the impression of intellectual prowess can have deleterious effects.”

Choose good words, not big words.

See more of my tips on what never to write in a grant proposal HERE.

3. Make It Shorter. Yes, Even Shorter Than That.

Writing long is easy. Writing short is hard.

Every grant writer knows that staying within an RFP’s page limit can be difficult, even maddening. When you do not have a formal page limit, it can be like driving on the highway with a full tank of gas. Freedom! You can keep going and going and going!

Except you can’t.

In my experience, at least quarter of most grant proposals can be cut out. Often, the longer your proposal gets, the more you are repeating yourself. Keep it short, focused, and powerful. Long can be boring. Short can be intense and vivid.

This rule of thumb also applies to your paragraphs and sentences. Watch out for run-on sentences, which seem to be the plague of the grant writing world. Mix it up. Throw in a short, impactful sentence every once in a while, just like I’m doing in this essay. When your reader has to read compound sentence after compound sentence, with no breaks, their mind tends to drift. If you mix it up with shorter sentences now and again, it’s a little burst of energy that makes you take notice.

In the spirit of following my own advice, I’ll close here and encourage you to give some of these tips a shot, even if it seems scary to get out of your usual grant writing groove.

Find more of my tips, including my audiofile, Grant Writing for Creative Souls, and my e-book, Grant Writing Quick Tips, HERE.

What yoga taught me about being a great fundraising and philanthropy consultant.

No, it’s not what you think. This isn’t about some hippy-dippy, Ohm chanting commitment to serving a higher universal power. Although that’s a nice thought, too. There are specific elements of my 11+ years of a consistent yoga practice that feed my work as a fundraising and philanthropy consultant, both consciously and unconsciously. Some of these thoughts were bubbling up “on the mat” yesterday, so here they are:

Precise attention to alignment.

In yoga, where you put your pinky toe can make all the difference. That pinky toe can help you open up and stretch your whole body, or, if ignored, it can leave your yoga pose stale and stagnant.

When I’m writing a grant proposal, precise attention to the details makes all the difference. Do the number of participants on page one match the number of participants on page seven? Does the budget narrative reflect the program we have described throughout the proposal? Are we answering all of the questions that the potential funder has asked? A dedication to details shows that we are committed to accuracy, thoroughness, and follow through.

In a philanthropic context, alignment also has a deeper meaning. For example, is the project we are describing really aligned with the potential donor’s interests? Is our proposed project aligned with the organization’s mission? Is it aligned with the needs of our clients/constituents? Does it align with our values?

Breathe.

In yoga (as in life!), the breath is your constant. When it gets tough, breathe. When it gets uncomfortable, breathe. When you feel off balance, breathe. When you are reaching your “edge” or your limit, breathe. When you want to celebrate how fantastic or expansive or light your body feels, breathe. Through every distracting thought, you can return to the breath to get grounded again.

Fundraising can be a stressful profession, with deadlines, unanswered questions that need immediate answers, donors or staffers who must be placated, financial goals that must be met in order for clients’ needs to be addressed... the list goes on. Going into panic mode doesn’t help. In fact, going into panic mode can cloud judgment and nudge nonprofits towards quick fixes that may alleviate stress in the short term but cause bigger problems long term (e.g. asking a donor for the wrong amount of money, cutting a program that’s mission critical, wasting time on shoving proposals out the door that are unlikely to lead to funding, etc.) When the going gets tough, breathe. This is not only a literal suggestion – inhale, exhale – but also represents need to return to the things that keep the nonprofit alive, that keep it functioning and healthy. What are the organization’s “constants”? What can’t it live without? What keeps the nonprofit grounded?

Stretch.

Stretching in a yoga pose can feel amazing. Expansive. Invigorating. But stretching beyond what your body can handle, or what you have carefully prepared your body to do, can create pain. That pain can last for days, months, or even years. (Just ask my sacroiliac joint. Ouch.)

When I work with clients to set new fundraising goals, train their boards, or envision new programs to integrate into their existing work, I encourage them to stretch. Pushing beyond their immediate comfort zones keeps the organization vibrant and healthy. But stretching too hard, doing something that they are not prepared to do, can cause pain, or even damage. The wisdom comes when you can figure out how much of a stretch is too much.

Sweat.

            Many people think yoga is all sitting on the floor and chanting Ohm. Not so! Some yoga practices are vigorous and sweat-inducing. Even if you are not moving a lot, just holding a pose in one place can bring on a serious sweat. Sweat is good. It cleanses you, cools you off, and shows you that you’re working.

            It’s also good for an organization to sweat a little. Even doing the same thing it’s been doing for a long time (like holding a yoga pose for a long time) can make an organization sweat, if they are doing it well and with the right level of effort. Trying new things (like trying a new yoga pose) can make the organization sweat. And that’s a good thing. It keeps the organization healthy. And a little bit of sweat and nervous energy never hurt anyone before going in to meet with a donor for a major solicitation.

Practice, practice, practice.

They call it a “yoga practice” for a reason. Every time you return to the mat, it gets a little more familiar. The mat seems to feel a little more like home. Every return to the mat is an invitation to take things deeper, challenge yourself a little more, find out what feels really juicy and right in your body. A yoga practice is called a practice because it’s never really “done.”

The same is true of fundraising and philanthropic giving. It’s never really done. As soon as you feel you’re on top of it, you’ve accomplished your goals, you’ve mastered a new skill, that’s your invitation to take it deeper. It takes practice to get really good at asking people for donations, writing a grant proposal, or deciding how to give away your charitable dollars mindfully and carefully. And as soon as you’ve done what you set out to do, that’s your invitation to learn a new skill, expand your nonprofit’s work or influence, or explore how your charitable giving is really moving the needle on an issue that’s important to you. It’s a practice, one that gets more rewarding each time you return to it.

August at Your Nonprofit: Gazing Back, Looking Forward

As I spend this August morning working in my favorite local cafe, I realize that I am engaged in some of the same planning and reflection that I encourage my clients to undertake during this time of the year.

On a rare day not filled with deadlines, appointments, and phone calls, I am taking a couple of hours to review and update my annual plan, assess the progress I am making towards my goals, remind myself of new projects I wanted to undertake that seem to have fallen by the wayside... in other words - get energized for the last few months of the year!

August is a great time to review goals, track progress, and get revved up for the fall months. So many nonprofits just throw up their hands at the beginning of August and say "Oh well, we can't get anything done this month. We'll just pick up our fundraising in September." Not so! This is a great time of year to gaze back and look forward. And it is an important time to plan for September, which can be a vital fundraising month. If you don't engage in some planning now, you'll be behind the eight ball come fall. Here's my August checklist for nonprofits:

• Revenue goals: are you on track? If so, can you do more of what is working? If not, can you course-correct?
• Donor stewardship: When is the last time your donors heard from you, not to ask for something, but just to offer an update? Should you send a friendly update in September or October? Can you start writing that now?
• Grant proposal and reporting deadlines: Which of your grants are expiring in the fall or early winter? Should you be planning to reapply? Can you set up a time to talk to the grantor about a reapplication? If you need to gather data for grant reports, now is a good time of year to do that.
• Government grants and contracts: For those nonprofits that get funding from government agencies... the government's fiscal year ends soon, which often means that they will release RFPs in August. Should you be on the lookout for these? Or, better yet, should you be proactively searching for opportunities?
• Twitter and other social media: Imagine your donors sitting on the beach with their smartphones, checking Twitter or Facebook. While they are scrolling through vacation photos or updates from friends, will they see updates from your organization? 
• September milestones: Are back-to-school time or the Jewish holidays important times of year for either your donors or your organization? If so, what do you need to do now to capitalize on that time (late August - early October)?
• Board: When your board goes back to work or back to school in August and September, will they also be turning their attention to the latest accomplishments and needs at your organization? Should you schedule a board conference call, meeting, update packet, or training?

Wishing you an August filled with dips in the pool, cool lemonade, and the pace and expansiveness that allow you to do some great planning for the fall!

2013 charity stats from Giving USA

Charity Navigator's blog recently posted some items from Giving USA 2013, an annual report on philanthropy. A few fast facts that I thought were noteworthy, or that some folks might find surprising:

Individuals continue to give the largest percentage (72%) of charitable gifts. Individual giving increased over last year (3.9% increase), as did most other areas of giving (e.g. corporate giving and foundation giving).

The largest areas of giving continue to be Religion (typically, people giving to their places of worship) and Education. The Giving USA report notes that Arts & Culture is the fastest growing charitable cause.

Here's something that gave me pause from the Charity Navigator blog:

Total giving in 2012 was 8.2% below giving in 2007, before the charitable sector felt the effects of the recession. If the pace of growth in charitable giving stays constant in the coming years, giving will not rebound to pre-recession levels until 2018.

2018, people! That feels like a long way off. This somewhat daunting statistic probably is related to this:

Revised Giving USA data shows that total giving as a percentage of GDP has barely strayed from 2% over the past four decades despite the huge growth in the number of charities. This figure climbed to a high of 2.3% in 2000, but otherwise tends to gravitate to 2% of GDP.

So, there are more charities, but charitable giving has not increased as a percentage of GDP. What does this tell us? That, as a nation, we are stingy? I don't think so. Perhaps it tells us that the nonprofit marketplace is "clogged," and starting a new charity doesn't necessarily inspire people who are not giving to start giving (or those who are giving to give more). 

If giving isn't forecasted to return to pre-recession levels for a few more years... what's a nonprofit to do? So many nonprofits with which I work are focused on donor acquisition - attracting new donors who haven't given before. But few are really focused on donor retention - keeping your current donors on board, so they'll keep giving (and will increase their support). If we know that new nonprofits, or causes, aren't necessarily attracting more gifts, I think that (among other persuasive statistics) tell us that it's more important than ever to retain the donors you have, to keep them a "part of the family" and make sure your nonprofit stays relevant to them. 

Read more about these and other giving statistics in Giving USA 2013. 

How Does America Give?

There's been lots of attention in the philanthropy press recently about the Chronicle of Philanthropy's newly released study, How America Gives. It breaks down giving by state, city, religious and demographic group, etc.

I finally made the time to sit down today and read the Chronicle's report on its study (which was compiled using IRS and Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2008, the most recent available year), and here are a few of the highlights that jumped out at me:

• The top 5 most generous cities in America are Mormon strongholds or Bible-belt cities. In order, they are: Salt Lake City, Memphis, Birmingham, Nashville, and Atlanta. This confirms what we have known for a while - more religious people tend to give more. However...
• When religious giving (giving to places of worship and religious causes) is not counted, the nationwide rankings change. "Some states in the Northeast would jump into the top 10 when secular gifts alone are counted. New York would vault from No. 18 to No. 2 in the rankings, and Pennsylvania would climb from No. 40 to No. 4."
• Generally, the rich are not the most generous. Lower-income people tend to give a larger share of their discretionary income to charities. Those who make $50,000 - $75,000 give an average of 7.6%, while those who make more than $100,000 give an average of 4.2%.
• Wealthy people who live in mixed income neighborhoods are more generous than wealthy people who live in wealthy zip codes. Fascinating! Put another way, the nation's most generous zip codes are not the wealthiest zip codes. Of the 1,000 zip codes whose residents give the biggest share of income to charity, only nine are among the nation's wealthiest 1,000 zip codes. So stop searching for donors only in the wealthy neighborhoods!
• State tax credits and other incentives for charitable giving do increase giving.
• Some nonprofits are focusing on courting donors overseas, where the impact of the recession is not being felt as strongly. Boston University, for example, has fundraisers traveling internationally, and approximately 20% of its early donations to a major capital campaign have come from overseas. Fundraisers are focusing on countries where new business growth is surging, such as the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the Middle East.
• (because I live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area) Prince George's County, MD, the wealthiest county in America with an African-American majority, has a higher share of donors than any other community in the Washington region. However, the total nonprofit revenue there is the lowest in the metropolitan region, in part because (1) there is a very strong tradition to church tithing, which means that some nonprofits don't get as big a piece of the pie, and (2) wealth in surrounding areas far exceeds that of PG County.

One of my biggest take-aways from this study is that organizations should start looking for generous people, not just wealthy people. Don't just look for donors in the richest neighborhoods, and don't focus on your current wealthy donors to the exclusion of less wealthy donors or prospects. Diversifying your donor pool will create more of a "hedge" to get you through the tough/lean times.

Lots more details (including how the Chronicle of Philanthropy compiled its data) can be found online at How America Gives.

It's more fun to do it as a group...

The Washington Post's On Giving section has an article describing Giving Circles, which are pooled donation funds that choose various causes to support. Some giving circles are more complicated, with lots of rules, guidelines, and minimum gifts per member, while others are more informal gatherings of friends. Giving circles can be a great way to maximize your charitable giving - getting more "bang for your charitable buck" while having meaningful conversations about your values, priorities, and interests. Have you taken part in a giving circle?

What's the season about again?

"Tonight's the night we'll make history... honey you, and ... my year-end charitable gift contributions for 2011." (OK, I'm a child of the 70s. You get extra points in my book if you know that musical reference.)

Yes, I'm one of those people who makes a few contributions throughout the year, but really takes a look at the whole giving picture each December and decides how to divvy up my contributions. How do I make my decisions?

(1) What are my top three charitable giving priorities, and are my gifts aligning with these priorities? My priorities for this year are: cancer-related causes, local hunger and homelessness causes, and the youth group for which I serve as a Board member. I'll give to other things, as well, but these three priorities get the biggest piece of the pie.

(2) How did my business do this year, compared to last year? Do I have as much (or, hopefully, more) to give away? How do my expenses compare from last year to this year, and are there big expenses coming up in the first quarter of 2012? Can I at least match, if not exceed, last year's giving?

(3) I keep a spreadsheet of each year's charitable giving, and I keep a file folder right next to my desk where I keep all of the mail solicitations that I receive throughout the year, as well as items I have read in magazines, newspapers, etc. I look over the list of what I gave to last year to decide if I want to give to them again, and I look at the mailings and clippings to see if I want to add any new charities to the mix.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not giving away bajillions of dollars here! But I like to have a focused approach, and I like to keep my priorities and intentions in mind when making these decisions.

"The Best of Times!"

How will you be GIVING?

There are lots and lots of ways to put the GIVE back into Thanksgiving. Even if you didn't sign up to serve food at a homeless shelter on Thanksgiving, you can still find ways to give back on the holiday - no planning required. For example:

* Make an online donation to a local food bank or soup kitchen.
* Pick up trash at a park or stream.
* Check in on an elderly neighbor or friend.
* Go through your closets and gather gently used clothes to donate - drop them off at one of those parking lot donation bins.
* Ask everyone at your Thanksgiving table to name their favorite charity - email the list with URLs out to everyone that night or the next morning.
* Put leftover cans, disposable metal tins, and paper goods in the RECYCLING instead of the trash.
* Are you driving somewhere tomorrow? Just for kicks, drive at the speed limit, and let someone merge into your lane, for Pete's sake. Safer driving helps EVERYONE.
* Say thank you to someone. Especially someone who does not expect it.
* Go through your bookshelves and gather a few books, in good condition, to donate to your local library.

I need a 10th item for this list. Any suggestions?

If I had a billion dollars...

Local gajillionaire and philanthropist Bill Conway, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, wants to give away $1 billion before he dies, and he wants your suggestions for how to do it.

Please note:
* He does not want to finance your vacation, your home, or your plastic surgery
* He's interested in job creation for the poor and/or ideas that will create long-term change, rather than short-term, stop gap activiites

You can read more about his query HERE, and you can email him your ideas at inquiries@carlyle.com. Write your ideas in the comments section of this blog, too!

Washington Post "On Giving"

The Washington Post just launched "On Giving," which is:

a new section devoted to coverage of corporate giving and social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, charitable actions and personal finance. The section features original Washington Post reporting and guest contributions from philanthropists, global development leaders, social entrepreneurs, academics and researchers.

The content so far looks great! Wish me luck in not totally giving in to this new procrastination tool. :)

TSF's night out!

One of my favorite non-profits (OK, full disclosure - I'm on the steering committee!), the Tranquil Space Foundation, had it's 5th annual fundraiser earlier this month. We shared stories from some of our grantees and raised funds to support programs for women and girls. Check out photos and videos from the TSF celebration HERE.

Calling All Aunts! (and Uncles!)

Lately, I've been reading a bunch of stuff from Melanie Notkin, the founder of Savvy Auntie, "the first community for cool aunts, great aunts, godmothers, and all women who love kids." Savvy Auntie has a book, web site, Facebook page, etc. with all sorts of fun resources for Aunts.

I was perusing the web site and found that it has a Good Deeds section, filled with all sorts of charitable/volunteer activities you can do with your nieces, nephews, or young friends. Everything from going to the local Humane Society to play with the animals, to making care packages for the troops, to just doing good deeds for the people in your family.

Great resource!

P.S. Check out the photo above of me and my delicious, loves-of-my-life nieces....

Giving the gift of Tranquility to Teen Girls

Here's a note from my friend Kimberly Wilson, of the Tranquil Space Foundation (I'm on the steering committee for the Foundation). Please consider the Tranquil Space Foundation in your year-end giving plans!




Dear friend,

During this hectic holiday season, sometimes we have to remind ourselves to pause, reflect, and take a breath.

Tranquil Space Foundation and its Tranquil Teens program give the gift of pause, reflection, and breath to teenage girls. Girls like Michelle*, whom we learned more about from an adult who is working with her:

Michelle is an amazing survivor. Ridden by anxiety following a lifetime of sexual abuse, she vacillated between periods of depression and violent rages. The sexual abuse left her bereft of self-esteem, so much that she could scarcely make eye contact during conversations. Her emotional and behavioral instability resulted in repeated psychiatric hospitalizations and eventually residential treatment. 



When I learned about the Tranquil Teens workshop, I immediately thought of Michelle. In her fits of rage, she hardly knew where she was. Her breath was absent. She was ungrounded. Tranquil Space Foundation gracefully agreed to come to our long-term residential treatment center in Maryland. 



Michelle kept a quiet, attentive gaze as the facilitator led her through breath work and relaxation exercises. She eagerly opened her journal to note what she was thankful for—to feel safe and to be protected from her abuser. Beginning with the Tranquil Teens workshop, Michelle began journaling about the horrors of childhood abuse. She used breath work to calm herself when she wanted to hurl her anger at innocent bystanders.

As a therapist and yoga devotee, I see the amazing blend of leadership skills, yoga, and creativity that Tranquil Space Foundation offers to girls across the DC metro region. On behalf of Michelle, I would like to thank Tranquil Space Foundation for their incredible work. Namaste.



You know that calm, euphoric feeling you get after a yoga practice, a great run, a round of golf, or a walk among autumn’s changing leaves? That’s the feeling that your donation to Tranquil Space Foundation can help bring to teenage girls at a vulnerable time in their lives. Through its curriculum of yoga, creativity, and leadership, Tranquil Teens helps girls find their breath and their voice.

Tranquil Space Foundation also makes micro-grants to organizations that help women and their families struggling with HIV/AIDS, women artisans in developing countries, homeless women in the DC area, and a host of other women-focused causes.

Your support will help Tranquil Space Foundation continue to lead workshops for teens like Michelle and continue to support organizations that enrich the lives of women and girls.

Please visit tranquilspacefoundation.org to learn more about what we do, and please consider Tranquil Space Foundation in your year-end donation plans.

Wishing you a bright and joyous holiday season,

Kimberly Wilson, and the Tranquil Space Foundation Team


* Name changed

One more reason I love Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons, a.k.a. the Godfather of Hip-Hop, a.k.a. co-founder of Def Jam Records and creator of Phat Farm clothing line, a.k.a. major philanthropist and yogi, a.k.a. my entrepreneurial idol, put the following post on Facebook today, re: extension of tax cuts for the wealthy:

As part of the 2 percent, I need my tax cut extended like I need a hole in my head. Whether it's through taxes, philanthropy or service, I always want to give. I wish the wealthy(and the repbulicans doing their bidding) would realize that they can't take it with them and in fact they would be much happier if they would stop trying to hold on to all thier money. it only makes them sick....

I love a celebrity and thought leader who calls it like he sees it. Preach!

Ring My Bell

OK, I'll admit it. I find those Salvation Army bells outside of grocery and other stores mildly annoying. (Not nearly as annoying as constant Christmas music, boring into my brain like a worm with an insatiable appetite, but that's a post for another day...)

But limiting their time from 10 hours per day over 32 days, to 4 hours per day over 12 days? Seems kinda Scroogey, Giant Foods...

Of course, for those of us who are gay rights activists, to give or not to give to Salvation Army comes with its own moral dilemmas.

What do you think?

Entrepreneurs are Givers!

As an entrepreneur, I was thrilled to read about this study in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (released by Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and Ernst & Young).

According to the study, entrepreneurs give twice as much of their profits to charity as do more-established companies. 70% of survey respondents said they donate their time as well, with more than 50% sitting on nonprofit boards.

Nearly 70% said they started their charitable habits while they were still building their businesses - they didn't wait until their businesses were successful, but rather made giving a habit along the way.

Did you know that this is National Entrepreneurship Week, complete with a Presidential Proclamation? Mere coincidence that this week also includes National Philanthropy Day? I think not!

Looks like there's something about the entrepreneurial spirit and the giving spirit that just goes together!

Americans retain their post as not-quite-nicest people on the planet

Such an inspiring blog post about Canadians the other day... and, unfortunately, a less inspiring post about Americans today.

According to a recent Harris Interactive survey, the number of people who plan to give nothing, zip, zilch to charity doubled this year (12% in 2010; 6% in 2009). The good news is, numbers on volunteering are slightly up - 11% in 2010, 9% in 2009. 13% of those surveyed report that they give neither time nor money.

24% of those surveyed said that they feel a responsibility to "make the world a better place by being actively involved in various issues." This number is down from 31% in 2007. In addition, the survey found that "just under half (46%) feel that people can get involved in different causes but shouldn't necessarily feel obligated to do so, which is up from the 40% who said this three years ago."

The sample size of 2,620 seems a bit small to me, but the results are still interesting. Now that times are tough, we are giving less, volunteering slightly more, and feel less of an obligation to make the world a better place.

Sigh.

Canadians retain their post as nicest people on the planet

A retired Canadian couple won $11.3 million in the lottery... and they are giving almost all of it away. Mr. Large is a retired welder, and Mrs. Large is retired from retail and currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

Judd Apatow does it again!

Check out this hilarious VIDEO by Judd Apatow, promoting a great humanitarian aid organization, AJWS.

Time to step up, single dudes

Despite commonly held beliefs to the contrary, a recent study has found that most women give more to charity than men do. A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article, reporting on a study released by the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Center for Philanthropy, found that "Women at [almost] every income level give to charity more often than men do — and they tend to donate more money on average than their male counterparts."

More specifically - most studies of women's philanthropy in the past have included married couples, which makes it hard to separate women's giving from men's. This study included 8,000 households headed by either single women or single men. Highlights:

* At the lowest income level in the study (people earning $23,509 or less), 35.2% of women gave to charity, compared to 25.7% of men.
* Among people who made more than $103,000, 96% of women gave to charity, compared to 75% of men.
* Never married ($783) and divorced or separated ($641) women gave more on average than never married ($498) or divorced or separated ($483) men.
* Men's giving outstripped women in one category, those earning $23,510 - $43,499; authors of the study plan to investigate this anomaly further. Widowed men also gave more to charity than widowed women.

Conventional fundraising wisdom has long held that men give more than women. This study matters because it demonstrates that this isn't true, and that fundraisers (and non-profits in general) should pay closer attention to their female donors, or potential potential donors.

What else could be going on here? Do a lot of men not give to charity until they get married, and their wives encourage them to do so? Or, once they get married, they feel like it's time to take up "grown up" responsibilities, like philanthropy? Hey guys, what's your take on this?